Improvement in can-openers



l. WOOD.

Can-Openers. No. 140,604. Patentedjuly8,1873.

INVENTO R.

AM PHOTO'L mm 684 Pmc an M x (ossbms's macaw.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, 1

JOHN WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAN-OPENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 140,604, dated July 8, 1873; application filed June 11, 1873. p

ing fruits, meats, &c., and which are usually opened by cutting out a portion of the can; and this invention consists in the combination of a cutting-head with a crank for rotating it, and frame for fastening it to the can and supporting it while in action, so

that, by a single revolution of the crank, a

hole may be cut in the end of the can or vessel of sufficient size to extract the contents, said apparatus being arranged by reversal for cutting different sizes of holes in the cans, so as to be adaptable to the larger and smaller sizes thereof, as will be hereinafter explained.

' Figure lis a side elevation of can and the opener, as applied for cutting the hole. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same.

Let A represent a fruit-can of sheet metal, as tin or similar substance, then upon one end of this is shown the frame B, for holding the cutting apparatus, said frame consisting of an arch of metal reaching across the can, and at the ends of which are provided binding-screws, as shown at O O, and upon the inner sides of said ends and just above the screws are small brackets or projections, as at D D, to rest upon the top of the can to steady it thereon, or to serve as supports to the said arch, and which are also assisted by two other supports that springfrom the center of the arch and project outward therefrom and down to the same plane as the lower ends of the brackets D, so as also to rest upon the top of the can, and thereby constitute a firm support for the cutter-head E, which is mounted upon the screw F, which works through a nut in the center of the arch B, and said screw is provided at its upper end with a crank, as at G, or hand-wheel, by which it may be turned,

so as to revolve the head E. Said head E is made of metal, and is fastened upon the lower end of the screw F, in any convenient manner, one method being to screw it thereon up to a shoulder on the screw F, against which it will be held firmly as it is rotated. Upon said head is fastened at each end a cutter of steel, as shown at H H, which, as the head is re* volved and forced down by the screw F, pierces the metal, and in its rotation cuts out a piece of the end so as to form a hole in the can, and one of said cutters is placed upon one side of the head and at the end, as at H, and the other cutter is placed, on the other side of the head and nearer to the center, as at 11, so that in its sweep around it will not cut so large a hole, and may be used for smaller cans by simply unscrewing the head or removing it from the screw F, and turning it up-side down, so as the cutter on the short arm of the head may be brought into action; and in this manner two sizes of holes may be formed by the same apparatus.

A center-pin or point may project from the lower end of the screw F, to penetrate the can, and thereby steady the cutters.

The operation consists in simply setting the apparatus upon the top of a can and turning the binding-screws until they pinch or com press the can on the opposite sides, and then by turning the handle of the screw F force down its center-pin, if one be provided, into the top of the can, and then, by turning it further, force down one of the cutters, whichever one happens to be turned down, until it penetrates the top, and then one turn further will depress the cutter upon the metal and cut it out.

I therefore claim-- The combination, with a supporting-frame, B, and a screw, F, ,of the reversible cuttinghead E, provided with two cutters, as described, and for the purposes set forth.

JOHN WOOD.

Witnesses:

EUGENE N; ELIOT, CHAS. H. LEONARD. 

